


A Dark Hope

by Terrowin



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Endgame killed my soul, F/M, Impulse/blue beetle - Freeform, Kid flash is Bart Allen, M/M, No Season 3 Spoilers, Wally west is Wally west, Wally west sacrifice fix it, X-Men: Days of Future Past References, X-men universe is dark, as in I only know the cartoon (season 1-2), brief mentions of x-men universe, impulse is bart allen, just found out about season 3, kid flash/ night wing, new to fandom, set in young justice universe, wolverine is wolverine, young justice is main fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 13:10:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18235343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terrowin/pseuds/Terrowin
Summary: They never found his body. They say his particles just ceased to exist. No one can explain it fully. The loss is felt deeply. The first stage of grief is denial. Which may be for the best when a stranger who seems to be a meta-human emerges and claims to have come from somewhere no one has ever heard of that flicker of hope that no one wanted to ignite explodes. Saving Wally may be possible after all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Started this story on Fanfiction (when I say started I mean posted on chapter than abandoned it :/) but I will continue it here :) as this has now become my preferred platform. As mentioned in the tags, this is a slight crossover with the X-men universe as in wolverine is heavily involved and other X-men characters may be mentioned. The story happen completely in the Young justice universe though. Please enjoy and lemme know what you think.
> 
> IMPORTANT  
> I refer to Wally West AKA Kid Flash, as Wally West all the time (at least I hope I do; I may screw up at some points) But yeah not to confuse you guys, but Kid Flash will be referring to Bart Allen AKA Impulse. I will be using Kid Flash and Impulse interchangeably to refer to Bart Allen
> 
> ALSO  
> I was going to have Aqualad and Superboy as a couple 'cuz I'm not a huge fan of him and M'gann and after the first episode I totally shipped them like come on, they saved each other more than they saved any others. But I'm not set in stone for that couple, if anyone can give an alternate suggestion I'd be open to consider it just; inbox me or mention it in a review
> 
> the lines indicate breaks in perspective so between Wally west in the marvel universe and Blue beetle in the DC universe

_The kid flash is in danger. His slower speed is making him an exit valve for the chrysalis energy. In 16 seconds he will cease_

"Cease? Cease what?"

"Bart, we have to slow down more, try to siphon off some of the energy attacking Wally." Flash watches his nephew take another blast of energy staggering.

"It's no good Barry. Man, Artemis is so going to kill me for this and don't even get me started on mom and dad." Wally jests but the mirth is not reflected in his eyes, they're sad.

"Please tell them okay?"

"KID!" Flash yells, his nephew gone, the implication of his last words clear.

"Hello son are you lost? How did you come to get here" I turn to see a bald man in a wheel chair looking at me in a fond yet curious manner.

"Where am I ask" looking around on guard. This place is old, not in a rundown way, but a museum way.

"This is my school. Xavier's Institute for Higher learning, I am Professor Xavier. What is your name?"

* * *

 

~Blue Beetle~

Nightwing steps down. Kaldur'ahm is once again taking lead of the team, Artemis goes by Tigres, Impulse now goes by Kid Flash. Taking Wally's place.

Wally.

Wally's dead.

Because of me.

If I had not lost control of the scarab, things may have never played out the way they did. The team has suffered much. Some more than others. A lot of things may have turned out better if a lot of things had been changed. The Flash has gone back in time once or twice, but time is a fickle thing and I'm sure if Flash had the opportunity he would have done just that. There must be a reason. 'All things happen for a reason', is that not the saying?

As if saying it makes it any easier.

The assigned missions are given. Time goes on. People change. Artemis was always a ruthless partner but she had grown more open from what I've heard. Now she seems to have reverted back. Pairing her up with the new Kid Flash had not been the wisest choice for the first mission back together. Kaldur'ahm had learned his lesson they were never paired again. Impulse -I refuse to call him Kid Flash, at least in my head- brings too many memories in his new gear.

The team has changed.

The world is a darker place. We all know loss now.

* * *

 

There is a disturbance in bar down town. On Rhode Island. Close to Mount Justice.

Impulse and I decide to check it out. It's not an official mission, we've been spending a lot of time together since the incident. Everything superficial, not deep, we both have wounds we do not wish to open. And the company is nice. The report is of a man wielding multiple knives and getting into fist fights. The chatter claims that the man has not been taken down even with multiple bullets fired. It seems like a simple enough incident for police to handle but with no missions and peace seemingly throughout the galaxy, neither of us wish for the time to spend with our thoughts.

We watch from a roof across the street. A well-built man with a funny hair style stumbles out from the bar. A man pursues him wielding a baseball bat. Wally… I mean Bart goes in to intervene, but even with his speed, we are caught unaware and the bat makes contact. The man doesn't even flinch; the aluminum bat dents from the impact. The funny hair-doo guy turns, throws the man against the bar, and his knives come out. He must have them up his sleeve.

Bart speeds by and catches the injured man before he can fall face-first onto the concrete.

The odd man speaks.

"Quicksilver is that you? You look a little weird in the get up and dying your hair I gotta say, I wouldn't think it, but red's not bad on you. I'm so glad you're here I thought I was all alone."

"Bart do you know this guy?" I ask as I fly over. Bart looks very confused. His eyes wide through the goggles.

"No."

"From the future maybe?" I try and push further.

"Come on kid it's me, Logan… Wolverine? Part of the X-Men."

"Is that what they call you people? X-men?" I question the strange man. He seems to notice me for the first time?

"What? No we're mutants. And they're not my people." The man appears confused, he brings a hand to his head to rub his face. "I must still be dreaming" he mutters, stumbles, and staggers away.

"Hey not so quick, man." Bart scrambles, he grabs rope from somewhere and ties the man up by whirling around him. The man stops. Looks down at himself. Then at Bart. He growls. Actually growls. I haven't heard a human do that since Superboy. The sound of sliding metal is loud and the ropes fall away; cut. The man's knives hang from his hands.

"Get lost kid." He goes to walk away again. The knives retracting into his body.

Extraordinary. I raise my staple gun at him and attach him to a building. His hands far away from the restraints. The man, Logan, continues to struggle. Bart is a blur and runs to knock the man out with a solid kick to his head. The man goes limp. Bart screams and crumples next to the stranger, holding his leg. He must've injured it. But how? I fly over to Bart and radio up to the watch tower. They're gonna want to see this.

* * *

 

~Wally West~

This world is darker than the one I came from as I stare out at the grim, bleak bones of a once great city. Now it is nothing but ruins. When I had arrived here the people had been on the cusp of a civil war. A species war. The Mutants as they were called are much like the Meta humans of my world; however, their biggest threat isn't alien invasion but their own governments. The mutants weren't praised, deified like they may have been in my world, they were persecuted, segregated, experimented on. A darker world indeed.

* * *

 

~Blue Beetle~

All have gathered in the watchtower, all the members of the Team –even Nightwing came out of the shadows to see this- and a majority of the Justice League themselves gather round. Rocket came to meet us to aid in transport of the stranger, who had not remained unconscious long. The moment he came to the man growled again and started to attack the bubble, not realizing even his claws of metal couldn't break through. Realizing such, the man quickly ceases all attacks. He stands silent, arms crossed. Even now, his eyes are furious as they dart around the many faces here.

Batman holds the dented aluminum bat in hand, examining the damage. Bart had been wise enough to grab it before we departed for the watchtower. M'gann had been kind enough to show our memories of the incident to the gathered members, because words themselves could not do the incident justice.

"You say he called you Quicksilver, as if he recognized you?" Martian Manhunter clarified reaching out to inspect the bat from Batman.

"Not so much recognized me per say, 'cuz he said I died my hair red and was wearing a funny suit…"

"It's more like he recognized the power." I piped up. Perhaps a friend of Flash, he should hurry and arrive to clear the manner of this… creature up. Scarab dutifully put in his 2 cents. Bart continues to recount the entire incident another time as if they all have not witnessed it themselves. I glance at the stranger, his claws gone for now. He wears no gloves; could his skin be like that of Miss Martian around his hands and he can transform that singular body part? But into a weapon. Is that possible?

One of the Zeta tubes comes to life announcing the arrival of Flash and Superman, the two of them strut into the room, brows furrowed and bodies tense.

"M'gann, if you would be so kind as to show them what happened" Manhunter asks his niece politely. I make eye contact with Miss Martian and nod, the memory is extracted from my view, since using Bart's proved to be too much of a blur. The others watch arms cross as the scene enfolds once again.

"What is your name?" Superman demands. Always right to the point. The stranger remains quiet for some time.

"Wolverine" he gruffs out.

"And do you wish to do us harm Wolverine?" Superman demands taking a step closer to the bubble, taking command of the situation.

"An odd thing for a warden to ask their prisoner." The man bites out.

"Do you wish to do us harm" Superman repeats with more emphasis.

The man remains quite in response, the silence drags on. Everyone shifts their weight but stays silent, only Superman has yet to show any discomfort in the situation he stands in a power pose. Arms crossed, legs apart, chest puffed up. Very Alpha male, very Superman.

"Only if you give me a reason." Wolverine says, voice low not threatening but not friendly either.

"Let us hope we do not." With that Superman nods to Rocket and she releases the bubble.

The man lands gracefully as the bubble disappears. The tension in the room is high and everyone stand ready to attack given the slightest provocation.

"So what do I call this band of misfits." The gruff man huffs out looking around us, he doesn't seem surprised to see the Martians or those of more unorthodox aesthetics. He takes it surprisingly well for a human who has no idea who we are.

"We are a combination of members from the Justice League and a covert ops team as well." Superman responds easily, still in his alpha male pose.

"So what you are a bunch a superheroes in spandex" he raises a bushy eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips.

 _'Quite the disrespectful…thing'_. My beetle hisses.

"Thing?" I hiss back.

It is not human, he clarifies, but he is not extraterrestrial either. The element composing his skeleton is one I have never seen before. He falls silent afterward, but his power itches under my skin, buzzing with a nervous energy.

"And what exactly may you be." Batman rumbles, voice deep and threatening. Confirming my suspicions that he is only capable of such intimidation.

"We are called mutants." The man sighs, a sadness covering his face.

"And these mutants are from which extra-terrestrial planet?" Black Canary asks, taking a curious step closer. Wolverine shoots her a hard look.

"Earth" he snaps.

"But you are not human." Manhunter adds.

"Not entirely," Wolverine sighs his shoulders hunching "We are the next species in homosapiens sapiens evolutionary chain." He looks down his memories going somewhere far away.

"So there are more like you." Miss Martian pops up levitating a few feet in the air excitement in her voice. Wolverine snaps to look at her his face enraged. Everyone takes a collective step back and ready their preferential weapons.

"There were… there are… I don't know, I haven't seen any since I woke up frozen to death in the god forsaken artic not 2 months back." A collective gasp would have traveled through all present if not for our superb self-control.

"Where in the artic? Were there any distinguishing characteristics?" Flash rushes to ask, his hope seeping through his voice. Wally's body had never been found; denial goes along way.

"Yeah, ice and snow." The man snaps back, crossing his arms, managing to look both annoyed and threatening. Silence encompasses all of us, the earth continues to turn beneath the watch tower looking so far away from this absurdness. The Zeta tube hums to life for the second time tonight recognizing Arsenal and Green Arrow. Their relationship is still rocky and Arsenal is still no longer a member of either team so his presence is unexpected and mounts the tension in the room even further. Green Arrow walks into the room and over to Batman, they exchange a few hushed words. Arsenal joins the crowd. Green Arrow must've authorized his entry, but why has yet to be answered.

 _'Maybe the thing is another abomination from Cadmus Laboratories_ ', the scarab helpfully supplies. It's a possibility for sure, the length of depravity Lex Luther is willing to sink to is not exhaustible.

"How did you get from the middle of the artic to here?" Superboy demands in his bluntness, arms crossing over his chest as he mimics his 'fathers' stance.

"I walked" Wolverine deadpans.

"You would've died." Superboy raises his voice losing patience. The man gives a dark chuckle.

"You'd be surprised what I can survive." He smiles at this, his canines longer than a regular human and his wild hair gives him an animalistic look that gives me shivers. By Bart's reaction, he feels the same. Another suffocating silence falls among us. Batman and Green Arrow are still having words off to the side. Their voices growing drawing the attention of a lot of those presence, myself included. That's how we missed it, the gunshot. We all startle and look to the wild man as he falls to the ground bullet in his forehead. Arsenal stands across from him his weaponized arm raised.

"I'd be surprised if he survives that." The ex-archer growls out, his eyes narrowing. Everyone pounces at him till we are all an incoherent mess of raised voices. Superboy has Roy pushed up against a wall feet dangling as he lifts him by his shirt with super strength. I stay rooted to my spot, speechless. I turn to the man, expecting to see a growing blood pool beneath is head. The blood freezes in my veins from what I see. The scrape of metal is distinct as the injured man rises with his claws extended. The room is silent, the bullet falls from the wound in his head clattering to the floor. Not even a scar mars the man's face.

"You'll regret that kid." The beast of a man growls out.

 


	2. Chapter 2

A whole bunch of things all happen at once. Those closet to the man jump back into a defensive position, while the more seasoned justice league members take their fighting stances, falling into it naturally showing no sign of alarm at the development. Green Arrow even leaves Batman’s confidence to approach the man with his hands raised in a sincere gesture of good will. Wolverine still stands tense and pose for attack, claws at the ready.

            “You’ll have to excuse Arsenal, he’s a little trigger happy” Green Arrow reassures the Stanger, “no harm done right? Your forehead has healed beautifully.” He jokes trying to lighten the mood. The man retracts his claws into his arms and stands straighter, still coiled tightly.

            “I guess that happens with a weaponized arm.” The man grunts arms crossing over his chest, muscles bulging. I blink at the man. I cannot tell if the remark was an attempt at humour.

            “Aww man! See this guy is cool” Bart exclaims running up to the stranger and grabbing his had to examine it. His leg has healed well due to his enhanced regeneration and his attitude as always, has not suffered.

            “Oh my god! Do they come out of your feet too man?! That’s so crash!” He exclaims bending down to examine the mans heavy boots. The man to his credit doesn’t look completely like a deer in the headlights but it’s definitely the most unguarded his face has been since his arrival at the watch tower. Wolverine extracts his foot from Bart’s hold on it.

            “No kid they don’t.” He places both feet on the ground and looks at Bart hard. It is times like this I wish the boy was more cautious, you would think that coming from a post-apocalyptic world would instill some caution.

“So this is your ability, regeneration and…” Wonder women makes a vague motion at the mans hands. She steps forward beside Superman looking every bit just as powerful. The man nods but does not elaborate further.

“What type of metal are they made from?” I hear myself asking before I can stop myself, but the curiosity is killing me. Could the metal be composed of the same compound as my armour?

_No you fool, I think I would recognize the substance then_ my beetle hisses as angrily as an AI can be. I am still unconvinced that it feels and understands nothing of emotions.

“It’s called Adamantium.” Wolverine informs us.

“And you were born with such a thing?” Wonder Women takes the lead once again. Wolverine looks down at his hands flexes his fingers.

“Not entirely…” he whispers. His change in demeanour peeks my interest as it seems to do for everyone else.

“Understood.” The Amazonian women does not push further, which I can see the disappointment of many. The man is a curious one for sure.

“What’s that suppose to mean? Can’t leave us hanging man, that’s not crash.” Bart pipes up. Bless that boys loud mouth and insatiable curiosity.

“This man is not our prisoner; we cannot force him to tell us what he does not want to.” Superman reprimands the speedster, backing up his colleague. Bart accepts this but does nothing to hide his disappointment and elaborate pout.

“As you have not violated any of our more serious laws. We have no right to detain you and will return you to earth shortly. However, should this change there will be repercussions.” Wonder Women levels the grizzly man with a stare that could do more damage than Superman’s laser vision. The man despite his gruff exterior had the self preservation to look slightly uncomfortable. He nods eventually shifting his feet, knocking the toes of his boots against the floor in a nervous energy.

“So I’m the first…. You have not met others like me?” he questions still looking at the ground. Such vulnerability in the man unseemly in what little we’ve come to know of his demeanour.

“We have not run across any who identify them as mutants like you do yourself.” Manhunter clarifies. Meta-humans are becoming more and more frequent in the population however, mutants or X-men, he is the first.

 

 

I flop face first into the bed exhausted, even with the burst of adrenaline from the capture and subsequent mystery of wolverine is not enough to keep me awake now.

“Can you believe that _hermano?_ They just expect us to leave the man alone after discovering him. How can we, what if he’s someone from the future. What if he’s from the new future after the aversion of the Reach invasion. What if that’s how he knows me!!! From an alternate reality maybe he knows my pops!!!” I groan and burry my head in my pillow.

“Go home _ese._ Some of us need sleep instead of copious amounts of food to be functional.”

_The boy is interfering with necessary bodily functions, suggest neutralization of threat._ That’s a new one, a great improvement from the usual termination Khaji Da suggests. Maybe Bart is growing on it.

_I am not susceptible to redundancies such as emotions like lesser creatures._ I wonder if it can feel me roll my eyes. I snuggle further into my blankets and ignore the speedster. By now he’s so excited his words just mush together and theirs no making sense of anything. His voice is a nice baritone and starts to lull me to sleep. I am rudely interrupted from my doze when one of my pillows are pulled from under my head. I growl as my neck crinks painfully. The beetle doesn’t need to suggest murder for it to cross my mind. I whip around to give the _pedazo de mierda_ a piece of my mind, when my pillow slams into my face. The familiar itch of my armor is felt as it reinforces my spine itching to spread completely.

“ _Hermano”_ I growl out.

“Calm your scarab ass I’ll let you sleep.” I roll my eyes at his antics, grab my pillow and flop back down only to have the fucker pull the pillow out from under my head again.

_Eliminate the nuisance_ Khaji Da hisses.

“Only if you agree to help me out with something.” Bart finishes with a shit eating grin. His hands move inhumanly fast as he fluffs my pillow.

“Fine.” I bark out grabbing the pillow, this time refusing to let it go as I lay back down once again. Bart races to turn off the light satisfied with my answer. I feel him snuggle in with me on my twin bed, I itch to tell him to get lost still a little upset with him but sleep wins out and I close my eyes for the night.

 

 

 

 “I can’t believe were doing this.” I groan as I slouch lower into the seat. Bart rolls his eyes at me stuffing his face with nachos. We had found Wolverine in Manhattan around noon the next day. It hadn’t been easy. Bart had run around like the maniac he secretly is while I flew above trying to detect him. Khaji Da said the man had a different vibration frequency –whatever that means- and was able to find him quickly when in closer proximity. We watched a man with glasses dark hair and a broad built approach him. The two had walked into a dive bar and sat at a table. The hour was early enough that neither of us had to show any ID to follow them in.

“Calm down _hermano_ it’s not like he will recognize us, he’s never seen our face.”

“I dunno the way you’re eating could give us away.” I mutter.

“Can you hear what they’re saying?” Bart asks me spewing nacho crumbs on the table.

“On sec” I hiss back at him.  _You humans and your weak senses_ Khaji Da patronizes.

 

_Just because you traded in your spandex for a pair of glasses doesn’t do much to hide your identity._ Khaji Da relays in his raspy voice. I can’t help but look at the table, if that’s really what Wolverine said that must mean the glasses guy is one of the Justice League.

Glasses looks very alarmed but covers quickly, pulling out a small spiral notebook and pen.

“Dude I think glasses is one of the justice league” I whisper to Bart, who unfortunately is drinking his soda which promptly spews all over my face.

“No way dude! Which one, who’s nerdy in the justice league? So crash man so crash!”

If you want an interview you should’ve just asked. Let’s go to a bar.

_Why do you continue to befriend this disgusting fiend._ I’m tempted to agree as I wipe the sticky substance from my face and try to salvage my t-shirt.

“Glasses just wants an interview.” I relay as Khaji Da reports back to me.

“Why would Glasses want an interview with a random stranger if he isn’t part of the league. So who’s nerdy and not all that clever in the league?” Bart continues to wander.

A waiter makes his way over to their table and they both order drinks. Surprise, surprise Wolverine orders something alcoholic and strong. While his company orders a simple beer, one even I know is crappy and cheap.

_Your buying. That’s what interviewers do right, try to loosen their interviewees lips with some disarming conversation and a drink or two._ Their drinks arrive, Wolverine throws his back with one swing and orders another on the spot. Much to the annoyance of glasses.

_Whatya wanna know?_ I lean forward trying hard not to look over at them, it’s very tempting and the conversation seems to be getting to the purpose of our stalking. They discuss the basics of what we learned from the man yesterday. The waiter returns with Wolverine’s refill creating a lull in the conversation. Without saying anything the mutant grabs his drink and Glass’ beer and stands up. I try to slink down into our booth as much as I can as if that’s not to draw attention to us. By the way Bart’s eyes get large and starts to cough around a mouthful it doesn’t work. Wolverine slides into the booth beside me and Glasses after a moment sits down beside Bart.

“They seem to be here for the same reason as you so why cause them more trouble.” Glasses just raises an eyebrow at us.

“Hey now my man how did you know who we are?” Bart demands gesturing at Logan with a chip dripping salsa on the table.

“You smell like those brats that caught me yesterday. And you…” he points back to Bart “a child could pick you out, with that hair and attitude.” I can’t help but glare at Bart, I knew his eating would get us noticed.

“Not crash man” Bart pouts. I look closely at Glasses still trying to place him.

“Tell us about your world” he asks as he nibbles on the chips at the table. A shadow seems to come over Woulverine’s face. And I can tell whatever we are about to hear is going to be a hard thing to swallow.

He goes on to explain that Mutants, which we have come to realise are the equivalent of our meta humans is a result of a gene mutation in homo sapiens sapiens DNA. For his world it started as early as the mid 1800’s. When we ask for clarification the man doesn’t give it. He says another strong mutant came about in the 2ndWorld War. What a world war is I couldn’t tell you but it doesn’t sound good, not to mention if it’s the second, what happened to the first?

Magneto the man hissed, could manipulate electromagnetic fields.

“Magnetic fields, like on an atomic level? Between the components of an atom?” I hear myself asking. If that is the case, then this magneto could be the most powerful human I’ve heard of. Controlling one of the fundamental forces of our world would make him incredibly dangerous. Both Glasses and Wolverine look at me as if I just spoke in another language.

“Oh _hermano_ you didn’t tell me you were so smart.” Bart’s comment is the last we hear on the matter. Logan continues to explain that mutants were feared and hunted by their lesser human counterparts. Experimented on even. He spat this tidbit and I can’t help but remember him the night before. Not entirely born as he is now, I fear that he may have firsthand experience with the experimentation. The Sentential program identified mutant DNA and hunted them to extinction. It was a horrid tale. The last thing he remembered he was in a school for mutant children preparing the last of the last remaining mutants. He trails off before finishing more. Preparing them for annihilation is what Khaji Da speculates rather morbidly in my head.

And then he woke up, ripped to pieces in the middle of the artic. Bart and I make eyes at each other when he mentions being ripped to pieces. The regenerative abilities of this man must be quite extraordinary. However; that destroys any hope that Wally is alive, even with his enhanced regenerative abilities he wouldn’t survive being torn to pieces as wolverine would’ve. I feel my heart break all over again, my emotions must show on my face for Bart grabs my arm where it’s been laying on the table and gives it a reassuring squeeze. I look at him, and I can’t tell if he’s drawn the same conclusions I have.  Seeing this man, and his story that he had been transported to another universe I had hopped maybe wally had gone to his. However; even that poor consolation proved futile. Maybe it was finally time to let him go. Wally is dead. I tell myself. I have to. I can’t hope for the impossible anymore.

 

 

 


End file.
